Table 2. Key socio-economic characteristics of the surveyed households.
| Variables | Description | Summary statistics | Coding for use in combined poverty index |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of rooms | Total number of rooms (including external kitchens) | Median = 2, Mean = 1.90, Std. dev. = 0.96 | Continuous variable (0–10) |
| House quality | Type of roof in the primary dwelling | 77% thatch | Roof type (sheet metal = 2; thatch = 1) |
| Food security (n = 452) | Number of months for which HH has enough to eat | Median = 7, Mean = 6.7, Std. dev. = 2.93 | Continuous variable (0–12) |
| Tropical livestock units | Numeric variable indicating the total livestock ownership of a household measured as “Tropical Livestock Unit” (107). | Median = 0.05, Mean = 0.42, Std. dev. = 1.15 | Continuous variable (0–14.2) |
| Irrigated rice | Whether the household has access to at least one irrigated rice field | 63% no | 0 = no; 1 = yes |
| Access to lighting | Type of light and whether household have sufficient light | Median = 2, Mean = 1.96, Std. dev. = 1.05 | Type of light (firewood = 0, candle, petrol or torch = 1; solar lamp or generator = 2) AND sufficient (never or rarely = 0, sometimes = 1, mostly or always = 2) |
| ‘Radio card’ mp3 player | Binary variable indicating whether the household has an mp3 device for playing music. | 78% no | 0 = no; 1 = yes |
| Education level | Binary variable indicating low or high level of education of the household head. Low (0) = 0 to 5 years of schooling; High (1) = 6 or more years of schooling. | 90% low | NA |
| Household size | Total number of individuals considered members of the household. | Median = 5, Mean = 5.5, Std. dev. = 1.5 | NA |
| Ethnic group | Ethnic group to which the respondent household head belongs | Betsimisarika = 94%, Bezanozano = 3% Other = 3% |
NA |
| Primary occupation n = 451 | Main occupation of the household head | Agriculture = 90% Daily wage = 7% Other = 3% | NA |
| Distance from the forest (km) | Distance of the household’s main home from the nearest protected area boundary (negative values refer to households based within the protected area). | Median = 2.1, Mean = 2.3, Std. dev. = 2 | NA |
| Household age (years) n = 441 | The length of time a household has been established as an independent unit (since cohabiting or starting to farm independently) | Median = 10, Mean = 14.6, Std. dev. = 13 | NA |
Note:
Where we don’t have valid data for the full data set of 453, the sample size is given in parentheses the first column. For variables included in our combined poverty index, we give details of how they were coded for inclusion in the PCA.